Why Wait?

She looked at her watch, then up again at the train in front of her. She sighed.

How long was this going to take? She’d waited for two hours already, and still, nothing. She wasn’t even sure why she was waiting. She should just walk out the door.

She glanced around the train station, taking it all in. It was her first time in one, and she was fascinated by the busyness of it all. Having grown up in the Philippines as a missionary’s daughter, she wasn’t used to all the modern conveniences and was still taken aback by every single one that she came across.

“Hello there.”

She turned around. A tall, ginger-haired man stood in front of her with a kind smile on his face.

“Can I help you?” she asked curtly. She had been warned by her father that there would be people in this new, strange place that might try and take advantage of her.

“I saw you standing there, and you looked a little worried. Overwhelmed, more like.” he gave another gentle smile. “First time?”

“Excuse me?”

“In another country. I grew up in the states and moved here when I was 20. You look kind of how I did when I first got here.”

She smiled back at him, finally. He didn’t seem the creepy stalker type, so for now, she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. “Yes, it is my first time. I am quite nervous.”

“Do you have anyone coming to get you?”

“Yes, they should be here any moment.” That was a lie, she had flown here, got on the train, ended up at the station with no intention of meeting anyone there, or going anywhere to meet someone. She was all alone. She would wait until an idea came to her.

They stood in silence for a few more moments. It was quite painful, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say. He broke the silence when it seemed he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Have any interesting plans for your stay?”

She bit her lip, not sure how much she should relay to this stranger. She’d read stories like this, where some innocent traveler was taken in by a man or woman, and their dismembered bodies would be found weeks later. But something about him reached out to her, he seemed to have a gentle soul.

“I…I’m not sure. I have quite open plans, so not sure where they will take me.”

“If you need a travel buddy, I’d be more than happy to show you around.” he gave a grin, showing a neat row of pearly white teeth. He was very handsome, she thought. His ginger hair was wavy, and he had weathered lines in his face, as if he were much older than his apparent thirty or so years. He seemed like he had a story to tell.

When she didn’t answer, he grew somber. “Ma’am, do you have someone waiting for you?”

She didn’t answer right away, which was probably her undoing, she thought. “I, they are coming soon.”

He tilted his head as if he didn’t believe her. “They will! I just don’t know when.” she moved her foot around on the black and white tile beneath her, suddenly feeling very shy. She hated this feeling. Back home, she was strong, confident, but as soon as she was out of her comfort zone she became awkward and didn’t know how to react.

“Would you like someone to stay with you until they arrive?”

She bit her lip again, a nervous habit of hers. “I couldn’t make you do that. You’ve probably places to be.”

He smiled. “Not to worry, I’ve got all day. I’ve just returned from a journey myself, so I have nowhere to be.” He sat down on the bench just behind them and motioned for her to sit next to him.

She warily sat beside him and twiddled her thumbs, gripped her purse, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“So, tell me a bit about yourself,” he said, giving another friendly grin.

He smiles too much, She thought to herself. “Well, I grew up in the Philippines, my parents were missionaries. When my mother died, my father became very invested in his work, often taking me into dangerous territory, but we were always kept safe. When I grew up, I wanted to see what the outside world was like. There’s not much to tell other than that.” she said wryly.

He watched her the whole time with a deep interest. “There has to be more. You look as old as I do,” here she gasped, but he only gave a small chuckle in response. “You look as old as I do and that’s all there is to tell? Like I said, we have all day.” He sat back against the bench with his hands behind his head.

She sighed. “Well, after my mother died, like I said, dad was invested in work. When he didn’t take me into the dangerous parts of the Philippines, which I rather enjoyed actually, he left me with a local tribe with whom we had become very close to. They treated me like a daughter.” she sighed.

“What?”

“The tribe tried to make me stay permanently, to help them. They wanted me to marry one of their young men, but I told them no. That made them very angry. They told my father they would never speak to him or me again if I didn’t agree.”

She paused, and he continued to watch her. She noticed how intently he was staring at her, and she felt heat rush to her cheeks.

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, I told them no, as did my father, and we never spoke to them again. That’s when my father agreed that it was probably a good idea for me to travel.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. He had secretly been saving up to send me somewhere, and here I am.”

He sighed. “You don’t miss your home?”

“I do, but it felt like a natural next step. I can’t explain why, it just did.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. Well, he did anyway. She felt her heartbeat quickening. How was she going to carry on that someone was coming for her when no one was?

“What about your story?” she asked.

He turned to look at her.

“Well, I told you, a complete stranger, my story. The least you could do is tell me yours.”

He laughed. “I suppose so.” he leaned forward. “Well, to begin, as I said I grew up in the states. All of them.”

She tilted her head. “Really?”

“Really. Every few months or so, my parents would move my older brother and I state to state. They were a very free-spirited couple who believed that school should be done on the go while you explored the beautiful world around you.”

She smiled. She had heard the land of the states was beautiful, especially the parks, and had dreamed of seeing the wildlife there that didn’t exist in the Philippines.

As she continued to listen to his story of life on the road, she felt something stir in her. Was it the idea of living a life out of an RV? Seeing the beautiful sights? As she continued to stare deeply at him, she wasn’t so sure. It scared her, but also delighted her at the same time. He was a handsome man to be sure, but she knew nothing about him! He could be lying for all she knew! Yet something deep down told her he wasn’t lying, so she stayed there, enraptured by his stories.

“We went mountain climbing in the summers, watched grizzlies in the spring, and skied in the Rockies in the winter. We even went horseback riding in the deserts of Montana.”

She sighed, wishing she could do all those things. Well, why not? She thought. Ask him to take you! She brushed away that thought. Absolute nonsense.

“Sadly, our many adventures led to our mom getting sick. She had to stay with our grandmother for a long time, so our dad took us to a few different places over that last summer.”

“Without her?” 

“I know it sounds awful, but I think he was sparing us seeing her slowly getting worse, physically, inside and out.” he swallowed hard, trying to hold back tears, but one escaped and ran down his cheek. She felt her heart tighten.

“Anyway, the week after I turned 12 we went back to see her, and she told me that no matter what happened, I shouldn’t leave the states. To take in all the beauty among the bad, and to share it with others.” he looked down at his hands. “I broke that promise. I couldn’t bear to do it without her.”

She quietly watched him. Why was he, a complete stranger, sharing this with her?

But she felt it. For some, unknown reason, she felt connected to his soul. He looked up at her with his clear, blue-green eyes and felt it even more so. It scared and shocked her. She had never felt like this before. There was no denying the connection as he didn’t look away. But she was too afraid to say anything. Couldn’t move. He looked at her with a strange expression, as if he felt it too but was also too afraid to do anything. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then quickly shut it as he looked behind her. She turned around. Her mouth fell open in shock. It was aunt, smiling and waving like a madwoman.

Her aunt ran to her and scooped her in her arms. “Your father sent me a letter about a week ago, and called me yesterday to say you would be here! He gave me all your information, so here I am!” she squealed as she spoke fast, then let go and took her niece’s bags. “I’ll meet you out in the car.” Without even looking at the ginger-haired gentleman next to her niece, she raced to the train station entrance and was soon out of sight.

“My aunt is quite an energetic, get things done woman.” She said softly.

He looked at her with a longing, melancholy look. “I’m sorry she came so soon.”

She looked at her watch. “Well, two hours isn’t that soon.” she smiled, but it felt false.

He looked deep into her eyes. “I…I should head out then.”

She looked up at him and felt tears welling in the corners of her eyes. She blinked fast to ward them away. “Thank you for waiting with me.”

He smiled. “It was my pleasure.” He held his hand out to her, and she took it. They grasped each other’s palms firmly as if they didn’t want to let go.

But they did.

He turned around to head out of the south exit and turned to wave. She felt a lump growing in her throat.

Go tell him to stop. Ask him where he is going. Where he lives. Anything to make him stay, She thought. But she didn’t.

She turned and left.